The Chinese coastguard patrolled around disputed sites controlled by Vietnam in the South China Sea last week, vessel tracking information shows.
Three patrol ships left a Chinese base on Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands on Thursday and circled around a series of land features – some of which Vietnam has built facilities on – before returning to the reef on Saturday, according to Automatic Identification System data.
The purpose of the patrol by the coastguard vessels – identified by the…